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A 72-year-old California deer hunter was recovering yesterday after surviving on squirrels and
packing leaves around himself for warmth for nearly three weeks while he was lost in the snowy
wilderness, authorities said.

Gene Penaflor was discovered by hunters on Saturday after 19 days in the Mendocino National
Forest in northwestern California, according to a report by the Mendocino County sheriff’s
office.

“This is a miracle,” reads a message on a website dedicated to the search.

Penaflor, described on the site as an avid hunter, had been hunting with a friend when they
became separated on Sept. 24, the report said.

After four days, the official search was suspended.

On Saturday, 19 days after Penaflor disappeared, the search resumed — but it was a group of
hunters who heard Penaflor’s cries for help and eventually found him in a canyon.

He told officials he had walked too far from the road, fallen and hit his head, and been knocked
unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he was surrounded by fog in a forest where the
temperature dipped to 25 degrees.

“He was able to make a fire and warm himself with leaves and grasses that he packed around his
body,” the report said. “On days when it rained or snowed, he was able to crawl under a large log
to stay dry. He was able to kill and eat several squirrels in the area, and there was plenty of
water in a nearby drainage to sustain himself.”

Penaflor is recovering well, according to social-media postings by his son, Jeremy Penaflor. “My
dad was found alive and well!” the younger Penaflor said on Twitter. “God is good.”